Panthers Hold Off Red Hawks

The Lewis County High School Panthers stepped out of classification as they hosted the Creek Wood Red Hawks of Region 5 4A on Friday night, August 26.

With the extreme heat, the game was pushed back from its normal kickoff time of 7:00 to 8:00, and the heat seemed to affect both teams.

The Panthers and Red Hawks played an even first quarter as the Panther offense struggled to find traction while the defense forced two Red Hawk turnovers in a scoreless opening period.

The Panther defense would continue to play strong in the second quarter as they limited the Red Hawks to -8 yards of offense in the quarter.

Lewis County would find the end zone late in the period as Brycen McDonald hooked up with Kade Carroll on a 40-yard touchdown pass to put the home team up 6-0 in the first half.

The Lewis County defensive unit picked up where they left off as play moved through the third quarter, forcing a turnover and again shutting down the Creek Wood offense as the Red Hawks were held to no yards in the quarter.

The Panthers offense struggled in the third as well and Lewis County clung to a 6-0 lead moving into the fourth quarter.

Lewis County was forced to punt to begin the fourth and Ethan Ray sent a spiraling kick deep into Red Hawk territory. The Panther coverage team forced a safety on the kick to make it an 8-0 game.

Lewis County would hit paydirt with just over three minutes left in the game as Fletch Kelsey scored on a 9-yard run to put the Panthers up 14-0.

Creek Wood would respond in under a minute, connecting on a 23-yard touchdown pass to cut it to a 14-6 game.

The Panthers would hold on to possession to end the game, taking the win 14-6.

The Panther offense was held to 172 total yards in the game. Fletch Kelsey led the run game for Lewis County, tallying 37 yards on 8 carries and a touchdown. Micah Godfrey rushed 12 times for 35 yards, Reggie Wade had 13 carries for 18 yards, Chaz Sparkman 3 carries for 13 yards, and Brycen McDonald had 4 carries for -3 yards.

Brycen McDonald was 6-19 passing for 69 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Kade Carrol had a 40 yard reception for a touchdown. Fletch Kelsey had 2 catches for 13 yards, Chaz Sparkman 1 for 13, and Kobe Feichtinger 2 for 6.

The Panther defense was big in the win, holding the Red Hawks to 167 yards of total offense while forcing 8 turnovers in the game. Brennan Davis had 8 tackles and one for loss for the Panther defense, Nathanial Caamal and Eli Carroll each had 8 tackles, Dominic Seiber had 6 tackles with 2 for loss, an interception, and a sack, Drew Ray 6 tackles, one for a loss, and a fumble recovery, Chaz Sparkman 4 tackles, Jaylen Murphy 3 tackles with one for loss, Fletch Kelsey 3 tackles, Tim Brown 2 tackles and 2 fumble recoveries, Kobe Feichtinger a tackle and 2 interceptions, Ethan Ray a tackle and an interception, Reggie Wade, Logan Gallino, Noah Alkire, Tuff Lindsey, and Kade Carroll 1 tackle each, and Braylon Bean a fumble recovery.

It will be Homecoming at LCHS on Friday night, September 1, as the Panthers host the East Hickman Eagles.